Women's Volleyball | 10/3/2022 5:21:00 PM
Game 18
Emporia State Hornets (4-13, 1-7 MIAA)
at Fort Hays State Tigers (6-10, 1-7 MIAA)
Tuesday, Oct. 4 • 6:00 p.m. • Hays, Kan.
Series Record: ESU leads 52-31
Last Meeting: ESU 3, FHSU 2 (9/10/22)
Live Stream:
MIAA Network
Live Stats •
Ticket Info •
Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: #23 Central Missouri
Friday, Oct. 7 • 6:00 p.m. • White Auditorium • Emporia, Kan.
FIVE OR LESS
Emporia State will travel west for a midweek matchup against Fort Hays State in a rematch of the Hornets' comeback victory earlier this season. The match will conclude a six match road trip for Emporia State.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hornets traveled to the four states region for matches against Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern over the weekend. Emporia State pressured the Gorillas often but ultimately fell in three sets. The Hornets then took on the Lions and took a 2-1 lead in the match but were unable to fight off the Lions in the final two sets as Emporia State fell 3-2.
THE COACHES
Bing Xu is in his 17th season as head coach for Emporia State. He holds a record of 297-226 and has led the Hornets to five NCAA Tournament appearances. He is 26-8 against Fort Hays State.
Jessica Wood-Atkins is 34-70 in her fifth season at Fort Hays State. She is 3-4 against Emporia State.
SCOUTING THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 4-13 this season and 1-7 in the MIAA. In attack, the Hornets are led by
Leah Mach, who has 188 kills on the season and averages nearly three per set at 2.98. Her average ranks eighth in the MIAA.
Orianna Clements joins Mach with more than two kills per set as she has totaled 130 kills on the season.
Shelby Ebert ranks third on the Hornets in kills per set with 1.90 as she rotated to libero for the previous two matches. As a result,
Megan Stretton has returned to outside hitter and has 26 kills over the last two matches. At the setter position, the Hornets are led by
Riley Bernskoetter and
Ainslee Stepp who combine for 8.88 assists per set. Through the middle,
Winny Harris and
Dorianne Lebron are tied for a team high 22 blocks on the season. Newcomer
Zuzanna Buchnajzer currently ranks fourth on the team with 99 kills and leads the Hornets with a .199 hitting percentage.
SCOUTING FORT HAYS STATE
The Tigers are 6-10, and 1-7 in the MIAA this season. Three of the last four matches for the Tigers have taken place against ranked teams. In attack, Fort Hays State has three players averaging above 2.40 kills per set with junior Riley Tinder leading the way. Tinder has recorded 158 kills on the season. Mykah Eshbaugh and Gracie Rains have 116 and 113 on the season respectively. Through the middle, the Tigers are led by seniors Emily Ellis and Morgan Christensen who both have 50 total blocks on the season. Both rank in the top ten in the MIAA and Christensen ranks fifth with 13 solo blocks this season. Siimilar to the Hornets, the Tigers use two setters, Jayda Felix and Elysia Glowacz, who combine for 9.63 assists per set.
SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State leads the series 52-31.
LAST TIME VS. THE TIGERS
In the second MIAA match of the season for both teams, Emporia State was able to come out on top over Fort Hays State. The Tigers came out and took the first set over the Hornets from White Auditorium to take control of the match. The Hornets were able to flip the script on Fort Hays State as they came from behind to take the third set and did it once again in the fifth and final set for the comeback victory. Emporia State was led by
Leah Mach in attack who notched 18 kills to tie her career-high while hitting .467 in the match.
Ainslee Stepp and
Riley Bernskoetter both surpassed 20 kills in one of the six matches they have accomplished that this season.
UP NEXT
Emporia State will return home a match against #23 Central Missouri on Friday, October 7 before a Saturday night match against Missouri Western on October 8. The match against the Mules will begin a stretch of five out of seven matches against teams ranked in the latest AVACA Top 25 coaches poll.
EBERT EXPERIENCE
Shelby Ebert (Sr./Topeka, Kan.) has led the Hornets in sets played in the last two full seasons and is continuing the trend as she has played in all 63 sets for the Hornets. So far this season, Ebert has recorded 120 for 1.90 per set. She has also recorded 27 service aces this season which ranks second in the MIAA. After playing strictly outside hitter for the Hornets through the first half of the season, Ebert swapped jerseys to take on the libero role in the last two matches for the Hornets as she has tallied 48 digs in the two matches to lead the Hornets. On the season, Ebert ranks second in digs for Emporia State with 185 on the season.
Off the court, Ebert was named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll for 2021.
READY ORI NOT
Orianna Clements (Sr./Stillwater, Okla.) led the way for Emporia State last season with 189 kills and ranks second this season with 130 kills while averaging 2.06 per set. Clements has played in all 63 sets for the Hornets after playing in 94 of 97 last season. In defense, she has three solo blocks on the outside while tallying 14 total blocks on the season.
MACH SPEED
Leah Mach (So./Lincoln, Neb.) was third on the Hornets with 182 kills in her freshman season during 2021 and has surpassed that total this season. Mach has played in all 63 sets while recording 188 kills to lead the way for Emporia State. Her total ranks seventh in the MIAA while her average of 2.98 per sets ranks eighth. She posted a career-high 18 kills in the Emporia State four set victory over Southeastern Oklahoma before matching that total the next week against Fort Hays State. On the defensive side, Mach shows her all-around ability as she ranks third on the Hornets with 172 digs with an average of 2.73 per set while also recording 11 total blocks on the season.
STRETTON IN STYLE
Megan Stretton (Jr./Topeka, Kan.) has made the transition to playing libero for the Hornets this season. After playing on the outside since arriving at Emporia State during the shortened spring season of 2021, Stretton has played in all 63 sets for the Hornets with 55 coming in the libero position. She leads the Hornets while ranking seventh in the MIAA in total digs 288 on the season. Her average of 4.57 per set ranks sixth in the MIAA. Her season and career high of 28 digs came in a four set victory over Southeastern Oklahoma during the UCO-OC Tournament. Stretton has shown versatility in her short career with the Hornets as she ranked top four for Emporia State in both kills and digs last season. After playing the first 15 matches at libero, Stretton swapped places with Ebert and transitioned back to outside hitter as she recorded 26 kills in the last two matches.
Off the court, Stretton was one of eight Hornet players and five returners that earned MIAA Academic Honor Roll honors.
BURNING UP
Riley Bernskoetter (Sr./Jefferson City, Mo.) averaged over three assists per set in her freshman season before averaging over seven last season. This season she paces the Hornets in assists with 291 this season with an average of 4.62 per set. In the last match, Bernskoetter recorded a season-high 29 assists against Missouri Southern while also surpassing 1,000 career assists. In addition to leading the Hornets' two-setter system, she makes a positive impact on the defensive side as ranks fourth on the Hornets with 116 digs on the season.
Off the court, Bernskoetter was named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll for the 2021 season.
STEPP TO SET
Ainslee Stepp (So./Kansas City, Mo.) has accompanied Bernskoetter as part of the two-setter system for the Hornets and also has recorded an average above four assists per set at 4.26. Stepp has tallied 260 assists for the Hornets. Similar to Bernskoetter, Stepp also recorded her season-high against Missouri Southern last time out with 28 assists to bring the total between the two setters to a season-high 57 in the five set match.
Last season, Stepp tallied 259 assists with an average of 4.39 per set, including a career high 37 assists against Southern Nazarene.
FINDING DORI
Dorianne Lebron (Gr./Guayama, Puerto Rico) has played in 41 sets for Emporia State this season. Lebron has recorded 40 kills this season while hitting .153. Defensively is where Lebron shines for the Hornets as she has 22 total blocks while ranking second with four solo blocks.
Last season, Lebron led the Hornets with 64 total blocks which ranked in the top 20 in the MIAA.
POLISH PRESENCE
Zuzanna Buchnajzer (So./Lodz, Poland) is in her sophomore season and first with the Hornets after transferring from Quincy. Buchnajzer has been an important rotation piece for Emporia State in her first season. She has played in 56 of 63 sets for the Hornets on the outside while recording 99 kills at a rate of 1.77 per set. Her total of 99 kills ranks fourth on the Hornets. In addition to her amount of total kills, Buchnajzer leads all Hornets with a .199 hitting percentage. The impact of Buchnajzer on the outside is also felt on the defensive side of the net as she has recorded 19 total blocks which ranks fifth on the Hornets. She is also fourth in both points and kills per set.
WINNING HARRIS
Winny Harris (Jr./Atchison, Kan.) has become another emerging threat for Emporia State through the middle this season. Harris tied her then career high against #12 Washburn with eight kills on .636 hitting earlier this season. The Turnpike Tussle was followed by another ranked matchup against #10 Northwest Missouri and a five set victory over William Jewell completed a three game stretch where Harris recorded 24 kills while hitting .476. In the matchup against William Jewell, she set a new career high with nine kills while also adding a pair of blocks. On the defensive side of the net, Harris is leading the Hornets with five solo blocks and leads the team with 24 total blocks on the season.
Off the court, Winny was named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll for the 2021 season.
LONE STAR SORRELLS
McKenya Sorrells (Jr./Pflugerville, Tex.) is in her first season with the Hornets after transferring from Hill College where she led the team in solo blocks while being second in total blocks. She also ranked fourth in total kills. Sorrells has emerged recently for Emporia State as her first match played came against #6 Nebraska-Kearney and she played in all seven matches since her debut. Over the course of the last eight matches, she has recorded 30 kills including a season high nine against William Jewell. In the last three matches, Sorrells is hitting .308. On the defensive side of the net, she has recorded 15 blocks including a season high four in the last match against Missouri Southern.
NEW STRAWN NEWCOMER
Caydence Doebele (Fr./New Strawn, Kan.) is in her first season with the Hornets as a middle hitter. Doebele has played in just over half of the total sets with 32 played on the season. She is averaging just under one per set with 28 on the season with a hitting percentage of .103. Her presence in her freshman has primarily been on the defensive side of the net as she has the third highest total on the Hornets with 20 total blocks on the season with three solo blocks through the middle. Her career high came against Southeastern Oklahoma to close out the UCO-OC Tournament as she had six total blocks including two solos. Doebele also tied her career high in the match with six kills which she has reached on three occasions this season.
TOUGH TEST
Emporia State has played eight MIAA matches so far this season and in those eight conference matchups, the Hornets have taken on four teams ranked inside the top 25 in the latest coaches poll. The schedule is not likely to lighten up on Emporia State as they will begin a five game stretch which includes four ranked opponents that begins with #23 Central Missouri in the next home match.
MIAA MAGNITUDE
In the latest AVCA Division II Coaches Poll, five MIAA teams are ranked in the top 25 with two teams ranked inside the top ten. As a conference, the MIAA has held three of the eight spots in the Central Region during the postseason including in 2021 when four MIAA teams made it to the NCAA Tournament. In addition to making the tournament, the MIAA has had a team make the national semifinals in each of the last three years with a team making the national championship in each of the last two full seasons.
CENTRAL REGION RECOGNITION
In addition to the recent success from the MIAA perspective in both the Central Region and nationally over the past few seasons, the entire Central Region has become a constant presence in the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll and more specifically the top ten. In the latest poll, the Central Region makes up 10 of the 25 schools and seven of the top ten teams in the nation. In addition to success in the regular season rankings, the Central Region has placed a school in the championship match in four of the last five full seasons.
IN THE CLASSROOM
Last year, and for the 11th straight year, the Hornet Volleyball team earned the USMC/AVCA Academic Honor which honors schools with that maintain a team GPA above 3.30. In addition to this honor, five returning members were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll last year while eight of the nine returning players were named to the 2021 Emporia State Athletic Director Honor Roll.
